Brown Financial Advisors Sells 2,189 Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV)

Brown Financial Advisors cut its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,730 shares of the airline’s stock after selling 2,189 shares during the quarter. Brown Financial Advisors’ holdings in Southwest Airlines were worth $932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LUV. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southwest Airlines by 15.7% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,497 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 48,422 shares of the airline’s stock valued at $1,435,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2,299.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 116,238 shares of the airline’s stock worth $3,444,000 after buying an additional 111,394 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Southwest Airlines during the third quarter worth $1,611,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Southwest Airlines by 98.4% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 29,222 shares of the airline’s stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 14,494 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LUV. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $29.50 target price (down previously from $31.50) on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southwest Airlines from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.78.

Southwest Airlines Price Performance

LUV stock opened at $30.19 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.91. The company has a market capitalization of $17.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.14. Southwest Airlines Co. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $36.12.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The airline reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.11. Southwest Airlines had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 1.69%. Research analysts expect that Southwest Airlines Co. will post 1.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southwest Airlines Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Southwest Airlines’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Activity at Southwest Airlines

In other Southwest Airlines news, insider Linda B. Rutherford sold 3,849 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.40, for a total value of $132,405.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 89,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,074,534.40. This trade represents a 4.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southwest Airlines Profile

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.